Overdue final success for Gaeil Colmcille

Gaeil Colmcille stepped up to the plate at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday evening and regained their place in the top flight of Meath hurling with a hard-earned victory over Dunderry in the IHC decider. This was a tough, uncompromising encounter which produced plenty of good hurling, especially in the second-half when Dunderry made a valiant effort to overturn a huge interval deficit. Similar to their semi-final performance against Longwood a fortnight ago, Dunderry were well adrift at half-time and on Saturday they trailed Gaeil Colmcille by 10 points, 0-3 to 2-7, and looked like a team well on their way towards the exit gate. That all changed within 60 seconds of the resumption when Paddy Gorey flashed the sliotar past Cormac Ferguson in the Kells goals, but that was as good as it got for them on this occasion. Unlike the game against Longwood, where they fashioned a remarkable second-half recovery, there was no fairytale ending for the Dunderry players or manager Eamonn 'Ned" Howley and his selectors John Brady and Paddy Leavy. Instead, they saw Gaeil Colmcille stand up to a stern examination which brought the best out of both teams and kept the crowd on their edge of their seats as the clock ticked down. Gaeil Colmcille enjoyed a good first-half and they were ahead by 2-7 to 0-3 at the interval. They thoroughly deserved that 10-point lead as they out-played their opponents in all departments and made the most of the chances they created after a tentative opening quarter during which they managed a paltry brace of points from Stephen Reddy and Brendan Murray. That all changed when Murray found a rhythm and reeled off another three points from play, but his most crucial score was a well-taken 18th minute goal. The full-forward was a constant threat and contributed enormously to this success. With Dunderry concentrating all their efforts on curtailing the Murray threat, it paved the way for Tom Shine to make an impact and he added 1-1 in a two-minute spell close to the interval. All Dunderry could muster in response was two Paddy Gorey points from play and an Owen McCormack pointed free as the selectors made a couple of changes. Kevin Dowd, who started at centre-forward went to full-forward with Bob Doherty going to centre-forward and substitute Kevin Bruton replacing David Geraghty. Following Gorey"s goal, Ivan McCormack split the posts with a huge effort from his own 65-metre line. Gorey added another point, but Gaeil Colmcille found three unanswered points from Darren Tormay, Denis O"Neill and Murray. Dunderry upped the tempo again and when Bruton found Damien Clarke on the edge of the square a goal looked like the only outcome, but Paul Tormay managed to clear the danger. The second Dunderry goal eventually arrived with 12 minutes remaining. Dowd dropped the sliotar into the square and Bruton pounced to reduce the deficit to four points, 2-6 to 2-10. When Dowd and Gorey added further points the possibility of a recovery was on the cards, but this Gaeil Colmcille team have tasted defaet too often in the past and have obviously learned from those experiences. Murray steadied the ship with a fine point and the sides traded a brace of points subsequently before referee Martin Bartley ended what was a nail-biting finale for the Kells supporters. SCORERS Gaeil Colmcille - B Murray 1-6; T Shine 1-3, two frees; D O"Neill 0-2; S Reddy 0-1; D Tormay 0-1. Dunderry - P Gorey 1-4; K Bruton 1-0; K Dowd 0-3 frees; I McCormack 0-2; O McCormack 0-1. THE TEAMS Dunderry - Michael Horan; Daithi Stephens, Thomas Doherty, Darren Callaghan; John Kelleher, Ivan McCormack, Lee Mulligan; David Callaghan, Evan Stephens; Damien Clarke, Paddy Gorey, Bob Doherty; Paddy McGeough, Kevin Dowd, David Geraghty. Subs - Kevin Bruton for Geraghty 27 mins; Michael Brogan for O McCormack. Gaeil Colmcille - Cormac Ferguson; Paul Tormey, Michael Foley, Keith Reilly; Barry Tormay, Barry Smith, Cormac Keegan; Denis O"Neill, Liam Newman; Thomas Shine, Robbie Flanagan, Colin Tormey; Darren Tormay, Brendan Murray, Stephen Reddy. Subs - Gary McGovern for C Tormay (half-time), Conor Roche for D Tormay 60mins. REFEREE Martin Bartley (Trim)